Example

Assignment Example

You’ve studied The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis. Remember, it’s the BIG book, not The Jungle Book, with the animal tales. You’ve been asked to develop an argument around one of the topics in the story. The realistic novel follows a Lithuanian immigrant family struggling with the discrimination and unsafe working conditions in Chicago’s meatpacking industry in the early 20th century. Think Rocky Balboa with an accent.

Your notes indicate that many appropriate topics are in the novel, such as women’s rights, immigration, worker’s reform, and unions. You are to choose one of these topics, develop a research question, and collect information. Finally, you’ll take a side on the issue and shape an essay into an effective argument.

Time to put on those boxing gloves, girls and boys! Your goal is to prove your viewpoint regarding your topic. You choose to debate whether or not unions are beneficial to the American economy. This subject is often in the news today as worker’s rights are being challenged in various state legislatures. You believe that unions, from their beginnings, have benefited both workers and the economy. They provide secure jobs, benefits, and pensions to those workers who then invest their wages into the American economy. Seems EVERYBODY wants those things, don’t they? A no-brainer, you say.

With that thesis in mind, you consider what sub-topics you want to include, and what arguments you will use. For example, you’ll want to include a brief history of unions, their purpose, why they are important, and the advantages they provide workers and the American economy. You’ll argue that these benefits…fair wages, safe working conditions, and evenhanded treatment…are good.

You also find counterarguments or reasons why unions are undesirable for some. NO WAAAAY!!! Businesses lose profits, non-union workers feel disadvantaged, demands from union workers would increase, and employers would have less control over them. Hmm… maybe there IS another side to the argument.

You expect your paper to be quite lengthy since you will have to fairly and thoroughly consider both sides of the argument, but through analysis and your brilliant powers of reasoning, you are certain you can solidly defend your thesis statement. Your research will provide facts, examples, statistics, and anecdotes to back up your argument.

To organize your paper, you will state your claims based on the research, listing your strongest arguments at the beginning and end of your body paragraphs. In the middle, you will present counterarguments to your proposal, but because you’re, well, YOU, you will thump your opponent by thoroughly proving your viewpoint is the correct one. You will introduce each claim and offer relevant and supporting evidence and specific details. Then, you’ll explain WHY the claim works or doesn’t work. Be sure to use transition words, phrases, and, clauses that show how your ideas are connected: although, of course, certainly, to be sure, even though, after all, and though Y might be true…

The tone of the paper is clearly academic, so no slang allowed. DANG! Avoid the use of I in your paper; take on the persona of a woman in charge! Show those biceps! Instead of I believe unions are beneficial, simply write, Unions are beneficial. You can state a position and yet maintain an effective, objective tone. You’ll be more convincing if you remain unbiased, and when you reach that concluding statement that puts a final value on the unions, you’ll have everyone screaming, I’m a believer!

Quiz Questions